Unseen Talent
by Sang Joyeux bonne
Summary: Sakuno Ryuzaki had always been a hopeless case when it came to tennis, but what if she met someone who saw her latent ability in the sport? What if he decided to teach her and turn her into one of the best tennis players in the world?
1. A Diamond in the Rough

**Summary: Sakuno Ryuzaki had always been a hopeless case when it came to tennis, but what if she met someone who saw her latent ability in the sport? What if he decided to teach her and turn her into one of the best tennis players in the world?**

**Pairing: Eventual RyogaXSakuno**

**Words: 4,065**

**Key:**

'_Thoughts'_

"Speaking"

"_Speaking on the Telephone"_

**Chapter one begin #### **

Strands of sunlight streamed through the small opening in the curtains, hitting the room's only occupant directly in the face. The serene atmosphere quickly disappeared when a blaring alarm went off.

"Sakuno! You're going to be late for school again if you don't wake up soon!"

The occupant, Sakuno, began to stir after she heard the elderly voice of her grandmother. She slowly stretched and yawned loudly before looking at her alarm clock.

"!"

Sumire Ryuzaki sighed when she heard her granddaughter's scream from the first floor of their two-story house. This had been their daily ritual after Sakuno had moved in with her when her parents passed away. Sakuno would wake up late, scream, rush to put on her uniform, and come crashing down the stairs because of her clumsiness. Speaking of which, that should happen in 3, 2, 1.

"!"

Sumire sighed and walked over to the sprawled out girl and gently picked her up. Sakuno smiled brightly at her grandmother and quickly went to the kitchen to grab piece of toast before exiting the house. She had been living with her grandmother since she was ten and now that she was fifteen, there were no changes from the shy, clumsy, directionally challenged little girl who Sumire had first met.

'_She may have actually gotten worse,'_ Sumire thought as she watched Sakuno run into a pole, apologize, and run faster in the wrong direction.

"…wait a minute…SAKUNO! YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!" Sumire yelled in vain as Sakuno had already turned the corner, too far for her to hear.

"Jeez…that girl…hopefully she realizes she's going in the wrong direction soon enough to make it back to the school before lunch," Sumire mumbled, then cursed when she looked at her watch, "Now I'm going to be late."

#####

Sakuno had run as far as Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku before she realized she had run the wrong way. The young girl frantically checked her watch but almost cried in frustration when she saw that class had already begun a good thirty minutes ago.

"Oba-san is going to be so mad. Why do I always get lost," Sakuno whispered sadly as she walked towards a bench.

It was always like this and no matter what she tried to do, nothing changed. She groaned and placed her face in her hands. If her parents saw her now, they would surely be amused at the fact that she still got lost. After the first few times, they only felt amusement when their daughter would try to lead and get them all lost.

A 'thump' next to her drew her attention away from her thoughts and towards the now occupied seat beside her.

####

Ryoga Echizen had just gotten back to Japan from a tournament in America when Nanjirou had decided to call him and tell him that he was going to stay with the whole family.

"Oyaji that isn't necessary. I can get a place to stay," the seventeen-year-old tried to dissuade his father from this recent decision to no avail.

"_Relax Ryoga; RInko and Nanako miss you, so does Ryoma even though he doesn't admit it. I miss you too."_

Ryoga's eye twitched when he heard his father's words. It wasn't as if what Nanjirou had said was false, but the way he said it, so sadly, made him suspicious. Ryoga quickly regained his composure and asked, "So oka-san is holding your porn hostage again isn't she?"

There was a pause before loud sobs broke out and pleads for him to just come home for the week.

The green-haired boy sighed and rolled his eyes before responding with a firm rejection and hanging up before his father could even begin to beg him profusely. For such an amazing tennis player and stubborn man, he sure caved in quickly when it came to the safety of his porn.

Ryoga snorted while thinking, 'Well at least I'm not that bad.'

As soon as he got his luggage, a backpack full of clothes and his tennis racquets, he began walking towards hotel. He occasionally stopped to flirt with some cute girls; he was his father's son after all. Both of them couldn't leave any beautiful woman alone without flirting with them. It must've been for that reason that he sat down next to the sad girl on the bench.

The girl had beautiful hair, long and a shade of auburn that he had only seen on Sumire-san. She had on a high school uniform, a Seishun Gakuen uniform. Nanjirou had told him all about Sumire-san's shy little granddaughter who had a huge crush on chibisuke. This girl next to him had to be her, the resemblance between her and Sumire was too uncanny.

"Are you ok?"

####

"Are you ok?"

Sakuno looked over, directly into slightly familiar amber cat-like eyes. Her eyes widened and she gasped a little.

"Ryoma-kun?"

The Ryoma look-a-like smiled, something Ryoma Echizen never did, and laughed. Sakuno stared at him with bulging eyes while silently trying to compose herself.

"No, I'm not chibisuke," the boy smiled at her, "I'm his older brother Ryoga. You must be Sakuno Ryuzaki; Oyaji has told me so much about you. Although I had thought the old man was exaggerating about how cute you were, but now I know he was telling the truth."

Sakuno turned an astounding shade of tomato red, on the verge of passing out because of Ryoga's complement. She wasn't complemented very often, and the times she was, it was for things like her cooking, never about how c-cute she was.

"A-arigato Echizen-san —

"Call me Ryoga, Echizen-san makes me feel old," Ryoga cut in with a charming smirk.

"A-arigato R-R-Ryoga-san," Sakuno stuttered while turning a brighter red and quickly looking down at her hands.

Ryoga simply smirked at her shy behavior. It was cute, and the way she blushed made him wonder just how red she could get. His smirk grew even wider when he decided to test this.

The charming boy grabbed one of her hands and placed a kiss on the back of it. The effect was instantaneous, Sakuno's complexion was stained red and her eyelids fluttered as she fell forward.

"Sakuno-chan? Oi Sakuno?! SAKUNO-CHAN!"

####

Sakuno woke to the strange but pleasing scent of woods and musk. She was in a room with a jacket over her that definitely wasn't hers and the only thing that kept her from completely losing it was the fact that Ryoga Echizen had just walked in.

"Oh, you're awake. It's 1:30 and I've already called Sumire-san and told her that you'd be staying here so don't worry about her. Oyaji and Oka-san are fine with it as well. Are you feeling any better?"

Sakuno simply stared at him, face reddening as the events from a few hours ago began rushing back. She was so embarrassed. It seemed that only the Echizen family could make her feel like this. She felt so hot and she was feeling very light-headed.

Ryoga, seeing where this was going quickly intervened, "Hey Sakuno-chan, I saw you had tennis equipment with you, wanna go play a set?"

His statement shocked Sakuno out of her embarrassment and made her eyes bulge in shock. Even after all the years of playing tennis, she was still horrible at it. Her grandmother had tried for years to teach her the basics but she still sometimes made errors on them. She just didn't understand the way Sumire was trying to explain things to her. Sure, Sakuno loved tennis but it also made her frustrated. Everyone knew just how bad she was but no one ever tried to bring attention to her when she was practicing because she was so nice. They didn't want to embarrass her, so Ryoga's innocent question was a huge shock to her. It was such a surprise that she couldn't respond for a few moments.

Ryoga, taking her silence as confirmation, grabbed her wrist and dragged her down the stairs. Sakuno only just yelled out a hello to the Echizen matriarch before she was pulled outside.

Ryoga Echizen was extremely different. Well, that wasn't quite fair to him because the only other Echizen Sakuno could compare him to was Ryoma and he wasn't exactly normal either. Unlike Ryoma, Ryoga seemed to have no problems socially interacting with others and he was extremely exuberant. Ryoma on the other hand was quiet, hated any form of social interaction, and rarely showed any emotion other than boredom.

"Saku-chan, I already brought your racquet out so we can begin quickly."

Ah, the way they called her was also different. When Ryoma could remember her name he called her Ryuzaki but otherwise he'd just yell 'you'. Ryoga on the other hand called her by a nickname like he was her best friend. Sakuno didn't know whether to be flattered or offended.

"Saku-chan are you listening?"

Sakuno shook herself from her thoughts and nodded. She resolved herself to stop comparing the two siblings. They were their own person and didn't have to be exactly alike.

"I-I-I'm not very good R-R-Ryoga-san, but I'll try my best."

####

After Sakuno had fainted on him, Ryoga felt extremely guilty. He had just barely begun to tease her when the girl had blacked out. He didn't know that she was that bashful. If he had then maybe he wouldn't have teased her in the first place.

Sighing, he laid her down on the bench and called Nanjirou. He had heard from the man that Sakuno's sense of direction was legendary. The man had found it hilarious when she gave Ryoma wrong directions on their first meeting.

"Oyaji, that offer still standing?"

####

"Bringing home an unconscious girl? Ryoga you dog!" Nanjirou's sly voice exclaimed as soon as he saw his eldest son carrying in a girl. He froze however when he got a good look at just who this mystery girl was. "Eh…Ryoga, t-t-that's the old hag's GRANDDAUGHTER! What the hell did you do to her?! That banshee is going to KILL me if you got her pregnant!"

Ryoga's eye twitched. His father always assumed the worst of him, or at least what he himself would do given the situation. Sometimes Nanjirou Echizen's personality pissed him off almost to the point of no return.

"Relax Oyaji. I met Saku-chan on the way here and we were talking when she fainted. Being the gentleman I am, no thanks to you, I brought her here. Now if you'll excuse me."

Nanjirou didn't even have time to ask about the nickname when Ryoga determinedly pushed passed his father and went up the stairs to his old bedroom. He only just restrained himself from going down stairs to beat the crap out of his father when the man had the nerve to start laughing and screaming about 'Ryoga the gentleman'.

'_Later,'_ he thought maliciously, _'Later he'll pay, but for now Saku-chan comes first.'_

####

Time passed quickly when one was speaking with Rinko Echizen. The woman, while not his biological mother, had a close relationship with him. They could talk about virtually anything. The only things he could not talk to her about were his various girlfriends and his father's porn collection.

"So Ryoga, I saw that you brought Ryuzaki-chan here. Now why was she with you when she had school today?"

Ryoga gulped at the strange glint Rinko had in her eyes. It was the same glint that she got when she was burning his father's collection.

"She and I met on my way over here. She seemed upset and I walked over to her to ask what was wrong. We began talking when I realized she was the Sakuno Ryuzaki that you and Oyaji talked to me about. She must've not been feeling well and she fainted so I brought her here."

Ryoga grimaced a little at the lie, but decided that there was no way in hell he was going to tell Rinko that he'd been flirting with her and made her faint. No way would he get away unpunished. He shivered just thinking about all the possible consequences Rinko would have had for him.

"Oh my son," Rinko hugged him; "you're such a gentleman, just like how I taught you."

Ryoga laughed self-consciously and broke the hug, "Well Oka-san, I should go check on Sa— Rinko gave him a stern look— Ryuzaki-chan."

Rinko sighed, "Alright Ryoga. I'll start on dinner."

####

Ryoga hadn't really thought about playing tennis until he saw Sakuno's equipment next to the stairs. His father had told him about her abysmal skills in tennis, another thing Nanjirou found hilarious because of her crush on Ryoma. He had thought that his father had been exaggerating when he described her but as it turned out, he had been making a huge understatement.

Sakuno's judgement on where the ball would go was horrible, her forehand was almost non-existent because she was too slow to set herself for one, her back-hands were weak, her stamina was laughable, but she did have determination. Ryoga admired her for that. No matter how many mistakes she made, she continued trying the entire time. He was pretty sure that if he were in her situation, he'd just give up and stop embarrassing himself.

This was it, match point and it was Ryoga's turn to serve. He gently tossed the ball up and served. He cursed when he realized he hit it a bit too hard when he saw the ball zoom towards Sakuno. He watched as Sakuno simply stood there with a determined look on her face. The ball that Ryoga was sure he had hit across the court was now moving towards her. It was as if it was being moved by a magnetic pull.

Sakuno's weak stance completely changed. She pulled back her arm and swung.

'_A Drop Volley!'_

Ryoga ran to the net and popped the ball up. He looked up just in time to see Sakuno running towards the ball. As she jumped up Ryoga cursed, she was going to do a smash.

As soon as she hit the ball, it slammed into the ground. Ryoga tried to return it but he was too late.

'_That was the Dunk Smash that chibisuke's friend does. Could it be that she's unconsciously using the Muga no Kyochi?'_

Ryoga looked over and grinned. Sakuno seemed to be completely focused on their match now. There were no traces of hesitation left on her face. Well playing tennis was definitely in her genetics.

"15-40, possible match point," Ryoga muttered but Sakuno couldn't hear him. It seemed like he was going to have to take this match up a notch.

Ryoga grunted as he served and the small tennis ball zoomed towards Sakuno. She returned with a topspin shot. He hit it back and she returned with a slice. The shots continued in that order which made Ryoga frown. Maybe he had been wrong in his assumption of her using the Muga no Kyochi. That was when he felt it, a slight contraction in his muscles, which caused him to miss the ball.

"30-40," Sakuno intoned fiercely.

She wasn't quite sure how she was doing it, but she was scoring against Ryoga. Her body was just playing from memory. She had copied Momo-sempai's Dunk Smash, granted he used far more force than she did, and even used Shinji Ibu's Spot. Playing and scoring like this gave her a feeling of euphoric satisfaction. It was something she had never felt before in her life. Now she understood why Ryoma and everyone loved playing tennis so much. She never wanted to give up this feeling ever.

Her attention quickly snapped back to Ryoga when he served. The ball would land close to the net. The next thing she knew was that her body was already in motion, sliding to get to the ball. Her mind then shut down and she relied solely on her memory and instincts.

Ryoga's grin widened even further when he saw Sakuno sliding to reach the ball. He knew that move. She was about to use the Drive B, his brother's move. This match was turning out even more interesting than he had thought.

"40-40, Deuce."

Ryoga decided to test her. He served and watched critically to see how Sakuno would react to his twist serve. He had mixed feelings of shock and delight when he saw her using the Carioca Step that he had learned about from one of the soccer players he'd met in America. He quickly moved and returned the ball with a topspin shot. Sakuno answered with an extreme slice, otherwise known as the Tsubame Gaeshi.

Ryoga was barely able to hit the ball back before it hit the ground. He had heard all about the Tensai of Seigaku's counters from his father. The Tensai was apparently one of the only people on the Seishun Gakuen team that could hold his own against Ryoma.

Sakuno wasn't able to reach it in time and Ryoga scored. Her panting and exhaustion had grown and her legs were shaking but that euphoric feeling kept her from collapsing.

Ryoga served once more and she returned. She wasn't she for how long they continued to volley exactly. It could have been several hours or just a few minutes but she didn't care. All she was concerned about was the ball and not allowing Ryoga to score.

It was then that she noticed it. There was several spots on the court that just shown like beacons. They were Ryoga's weak spots, she realized. Sakuno had always been able to spot flaws instantly and her intuition was actually great even though her sense of direction caused others to believe otherwise.

This wasn't a technique he had ever seen. Sakuno seemed to know just where to hit the ball so that he couldn't reach it. They had been constantly switching who had the advantage point and Ryoga could see that Sakuno was on the verge of collapsing. He needed to end this now.

He used the twist serve once again when he had the advantage point, knowing that Sakuno's body was too tired to use the Carioca step again. He was proven correct when she collapsed onto her knees, sweating profusely.

"6 games to 0; game set, and match."

Sakuno bit her lip in frustration. She wanted to continue playing but her body wouldn't let her. Was this her limit? She had finally begun to actually play tennis and she had already reached her limit. She was so pathetic.

"Gomen Ryoga-san, I'm not very good at playing tennis, Oba-san gave up trying to teach me and Ryoma-kun's tried to help as well but it seems like I'm not meant to play tennis."

What was she saying? She had so much latent ability that it wasn't funny but the way she said it, so soft and sadly, made him realize that she really believed her words.

"Sakuno, you scored against me didn't you?"

The tired girl nodded and became just a little bit teary-eyed.

"Then you aren't bad at tennis because I am most certainly not a bad tennis player and you scored against me," Ryoga stated so arrogantly that Sakuno had to laugh, "and as for being meant to play tennis, well do you like playing tennis?"

Sakuno nodded.

"Then you were meant to play tennis."

Ryoga watched Sakuno's panting form thoughtfully. Sakuno was far from a horrible tennis player when she lost her hesitation. He could see her frustration with herself in the first few sets, but as soon as she strengthened her resolve her hesitation faded away. That allowed her to unlock the Muga no Kyochi, a technique that even he had trouble with. Although it was really those last few points that caught his attention. It had felt as if she was looking straight through him, seeing every little mistake he had made and every weakness he had. It gave him chills, of both fear and excitement.

He knew that everyone had already labeled her as a hopeless case when it came to tennis. Although he was also sure that no one had ever seen her play like she had with him; she was a diamond in the rough. He was positive that he could turn her into an amazing tennis player.

'_Now __**that**__ would get chibisuke's attention,'_ Ryoga thought slyly as he made his decision, her crush on his little brother had been the first thing Nanjirou had told him.

"Well Saku-chan, I could teach you. I mean if you'd like, I could help you out with anything you're having trouble on in tennis. I'm going to be in Japan for a while so if you'd like we could practice together or something."

Sakuno froze when she heard Ryoga's rambling. She desperately wanted to improve and feel that feeling of euphoria again but she was afraid that once he saw she was a lost cause, he'd give up. Her grandma had tried, Ryoma had tried, even her tennis coach had tried and failed. She was hopeless and she knew it but maybe, just maybe this time it would be different. The match with him had already proved to her that she had played much better than she ever had in her entire life.

"W-w-will you really help me?"

Ryoga stopped his ramble and looked at Sakuno surprised. Even though she had stuttered when she asked, her tone was so pleading that it had made him freeze. He nodded at her solemnly. He'd help her become an amazing tennis player.

"It'll be hard and at times you're going to hate me but I promise you I can turn you into a great tennis player."

Sakuno shakily got up from the ground and looked at him directly in the eyes. She searched his face for any lies or doubts of his words, finding none she nodded determinedly.

"Alright Ryoga-sensei," Sakuno said with a small smile.

Ryoga blushed when she called him sensei and rapidly told her that he was fine with Ryoga-san or Ryoga. Sakuno laughed tiredly at her new teacher's actions. Ryoga and Ryoma were definitely different people, but she found that she didn't mind all that much.

"Alright, well we'll begin tomorrow afternoon after school. Let's meet at the public tennis courts and we'll work on basics."

Sakuno nodded happily as they walked back to the Echizen household. They continued on silently until Ryoga stopped and told her that he had forgotten something and that he'd meet her back at the house in a few minutes. Sakuno simply smiled and agreed wondering just how long they'd been playing because the sun was already beginning to set.

####

Ryoga went back to the court and grabbed his racquet smiling and said, "You can come out now Oyaji"

His father slowly got up from behind the statue overlooking the court. He had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face, with his hands tucked into his sleeves. He looked at Ryoga and shook his head.

"I never thought that clumsy little girl could play like that."

Ryoga smirked at his troubled look. Nanjirou Echizen prided himself on being able to clearly read the potential and abilities of others in tennis. For him to miss such gigantic potential in Sakuno was a huge blow to his pride.

"How far do you think she could go?"

Nanjirou frowned before he answered, "If she was able to play like that all the time then there's no doubt with a few months of training to refine her skill, she'd be on par with Ryoma."

Ryoga's smirk grew and said, "Well then I've got my work cut out for me."

Nanjirou shook his head with a slight smile. They both couldn't resist a challenge and teaching Ryuzaki-chan might just change the world of tennis. He had seen those last few volleys; Sakuno had been in complete control of the game. She saw all of Ryoga's weaknesses and accurately hit them into those spots. If she were to refine her play style then there's no telling just how far she could go. Her use of the Muga no Kyochi could even make him consider her to be a prodigy because copying the moves that she had only seen, with hardly any explanation was a prodigal skill. He couldn't wait to see just how much she'd grow under Ryoga's tutelage.

####

**End of Chapter one**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. This idea has been rolling around in my head for quite some time and I finally decided to post it this year. Sakuno's ability of viewing any and all weaknesses was based off of Atobe's Ice Kingdom in the New Prince of Tennis Series. Until next time **

**Notes:**

**Oyaji: Dad**

**Oba-san: Grandmother**

**Oka-san: Mother**

**Tsubame Gaeshi: Swallow's Return**

**Chibisuke: Little one/Shorty**

**Muga no Kyochi: State of Self Actualization**

**-SJB**


	2. The Strongest Resolve

**Hello everyone! Thank you kuriko-chan and Sakuno8 for the reviews. Thank you to all those who followed and/or favorited this story. **

**I'd like to make this clear; this is a Sakuno-Centric fic. I hope to finish this fic soon but I am not a regular with my updates. This is also a slow building RyogaXSakuno fic ****. This story is also unbeta'ed so please try to ignore any minor grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis or any of its characters.**

**Words: 4,891**

**Key:**

"Speaking"

"_Speaking on telephone"_

_Flashback_

'_Thoughts'_

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2: The Strongest Resolve**

Ryoma Echizen had always been an aloof boy. His detachment from anything that was not tennis drove most crazy. This led to him only having friends as crazy about tennis as himself. He had never really minded this until now.

All day long his Sempai had been hounding him about where Sakuno-chan was. He had no idea who that was until they described her. Oh yes, he remembered her. She had wobbly hips, long hair that got in the way when playing tennis, and was absolutely horrible at the sport. When they asked him to go find her, he simply refused and walked away. He didn't understand why they needed him to go and find her, he barely spoke to her. He just chalked it up to the eccentricity of his sempai.

Ryoma decided to hide during lunch from his noisy friends and sat under a tree to take a nap. It was a nice quiet day. The sun was shining and there was a nice breeze blowing through. It was the peace that Ryoma needed. However that peace did not last.

"Hey Ryoma, have you seen Ryuzaki-chan?" Horio, that noisy braggart, had decided that Ryoma's peace was less important than his question.

"Hn," Ryoma grunted as he got up to go and find another hiding place but Horio continued to follow him.

"We haven't seen her all day and you have most of your classes with her we thought you'd—

"Why don't you ask her grandmother?"

Horio looked at him, only just feeling the deadly aura Ryoma was exerting and gulped, "Yeah, I'll just go do that right now. Bye Ryoma!"

That was definitely the fastest the prince of tennis had ever seen Horio run. He snorted at that thought and settled down on a nearby bench. Now he understood why everyone was asking him about Ryuzaki, they had many of the same classes. He hadn't even noticed.

As soon as he thought this, back at the Echizen household, a sleeping Sakuno grimaced.

####

Classes had finally ended and now it was time for tennis practice. It was going to last for an hour longer than usual as they didn't have it in the morning because the coach was late. No one had bothered him about Ryuzaki after lunch so he assumed that they had asked the coach.

"Ochibi!" That was the only warning Ryoma got before his hyperactive sempai hugged him.

"Ne, have you seen Sakuno-chan Ochibi?"

Ryoma shrugged off his sempai roughly and shook his head.

"Ah, Ryuzaki-sensei told us that she might have gotten lost and to keep an eye out for her. She should have gotten here already so we're all really worried. Are you worried too Ochibi?"

Ryoma snorted and shook his head, "I barely even know her. I can't really worry about someone I don't know."

Kikumaru's looked horrified as he yelled, "Ochibi you're so cold hearted."

Ryoma simply shrugged and walked away, leaving his sempai whining about his attitude. His friends were just like that.

Practice didn't end until 5, but Ryoma wasn't complaining. He had gotten to play a match against Fuji and like always their match was extremely thrilling. The strangest thing that had happened after practice was that Ryuzaki-sensei had thanked him for something, he hadn't really been paying attention though so he left home without a care in the world.

As soon as he got home, his mother had called out her welcome and told him that dinner was almost ready. He had called back that he was going to take a quick shower first and then go eat.

He sighed tiredly when he heard his father's chuckles from the living room. The man was definitely reading one of his 'magazines'. He placed his bag in his room and quickly got a change of clothes and walked to the bathroom.

He thoughtlessly opened the door and walked in. The sight that met him was definitely not one he had been expecting. Both his mother and his cousin Nanako usually used the bathroom on the first floor to take showers and he had heard his father down stairs so he had not been expecting anyone to be in the restroom. He especially had not been expecting a naked girl to be drying herself off when he walked into his bathroom.

"a-a-a," Ryoma stuttered, blushing so red that there was a slight resemblance between him and a tomato. The girl had been in the middle of drying herself when she had heard him and froze.

"R-R-Ryuzaki?"

Sakuno just stood there before she realized that she was naked and Ryoma was staring at her. Ryoma had seen her naked!

"!"

Ryoma's trance was broken when she screamed and he closed the door yelling, "Sorry!"

The youngest Echizen gripped his clothes tightly as a blush stained his face. That had been the first time he had ever—no he needed to stop thinking about it lest he become like his father. He shivered in disgust at the thought. Although he would admit that she was very nicely developed. He blushed bright red at that thought. His only saving grace was that no one had heard Ryuzaki's rather loud scream.

"Eh chibisuke are you ok?"

Ryoma quickly whirled around and glared up at his elder brother. Ryoga wasn't supposed to be here, or at least no one had told him that he would be staying here.

"Oi chibi? What are you doing outside of the restroom?"

Ryoma's blush intensified but he still found the will to say, "What do you think? I'm going to take a shower. Why are you here?"

Ryoga frowned and said, "I thought I had heard Saku-chan scream…" He trailed off as he looked at Ryoma's blushing face closely and his brain put it all together.

"Ryoma you pervert, looks like we are related." Ryoga grinned down at his younger brother while giving him a noogie.

Ryoma angrily shoved him away and began walking toward his room. He stubbornly ignored the slight feeling of anger when Ryoga had called Ryuzaki Saku-chan. It was too familiar for his taste.

'_Why am I even thinking about that?'_

####

As soon as she had arrived back at the house, she had asked if Rinko had any clothes she could borrow so that she could wash up before dinner. The woman had quickly procured some of Nanako-san's clothes for her and sent her off to the second story bathroom.

Sakuno sighed in happiness as she felt the warm water soothe her aching muscles. The match with Ryoga had showed her a lot about herself. It turned out she wasn't as hopeless as she had thought. She couldn't wait to play again and it made her look forward to what she could become.

Tennis had started out as a fun thing that her whole family did, but gradually it became a chore. Although recently it had become fun again due to a certain prince, she had been worse before but was gradually improving due to the sheer amount of practice she put in. Her most recent match slightly boosted her confidence in herself.

Sakuno sighed happily when she stepped out of the shower and began drying herself. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door open. She didn't even notice the other occupant until she heard him stutter.

"a-a-a"

Sakuno froze completely. She knew that voice extremely well even though it was in a slightly higher pitch at that moment. She slowly looked up and saw her crush, the prince of tennis, Ryoma staring at her naked form.

"R-R-Ryuzaki?"

Sakuno stood there in horror until finally her vocal chords decided it was time to react, "!"

"Sorry!"

She tried to calm herself after Ryoma had run out of the room. She couldn't help but blush at the events that had transpired. Her mind raced a-mile-a-minute at the memory. While her confidence had been slightly boosted by the match, she was nowhere near confident enough to handle a situation such as this. This wasn't good; she was beginning to feel faint.

"No, I will not faint." She murmured in determination.

Slowly she began to dress herself as she thought, _'Even if Ryoma-kun saw me…like that…It'll be alright. He's never shown any interest in me before so he certainly won't now. It'll just be a little bit awkward at the dinner table but other than that he probably won't say anything…I think.'_

"Oi Saku-chan, dinner is ready!"

Sakuno shook her head, and with those positive thoughts she quickly opened the door. Ryoga was standing there with a grin that she was getting used to on his face. She instantly became wary when that grin morphed into a knowing sly smirk.

"So Saku-chan did anything _interesting_ happen?"

She did not like that grin, he knew what had transpired between Ryoma and her but he was definitely going to tease her. Sakuno decided that playing dumb would be in her best interest, "Why would anything interesting happen Ryoga-san? I only took a shower?"

However Ryoga's smirk did not vanish, in fact, it grew.

"Oh, and is that why your face is stained red?"

Sakuno's already flushed face became redder as she said in a higher pitch, "What do you mean? My face isn't red. It's probably just a trick of the light. Besides, even if my face is red it's probably due to the hot shower that I just took."

Ryoga laughed heartily at Sakuno's flustered actions and simply nodded his head. She was a terrible liar; the higher pitch to her voice gave her away instantly.

"Alright Saku-chan, if you say so."

####

Dinner was just as awkward as Sakuno had thought it was going to be. Ryoma would not look even look at her and when their eyes would meet from across the table, he would instantly look away. Although he never brought it up. Rinko and Nanako soon pulled her into a conversation on the newest fashion trends which Sakuno was grateful for.

Meanwhile Ryoga was pulled into a conversation of the latest models by his father while occasionally asking Ryoma about his school. This continued on for the rest of the meal, Ryoma and Sakuno avoided looking at each other while the rest of the family looked on in amusement.

"Arigato for the dinner, it was wonderful but I should get going now."

The Echizen matriarch looked at the young auburn haired girl worriedly as she looked at the time, "Ryoma why don't you walk Ryuzaki-chan home. It's dark out already and I don't want her to go home alone?"

Ryoma and Sakuno froze at the innocent request. Seeing that the awkward teens were not going to be responding anytime soon, Ryoga decided to intervene, "Oka-san, I'll take Saku-chan home. Chibisuke's got a lot of homework to finish."

Ryoma looked ready to negate his brother's claim but his mother's acceptance stopped him.

"Well then let's go Saku-chan." Ryoga said cheerily as he internally laughed at his younger brother's anger.

He knew his brother extremely well even though they weren't as close as they used to be. The Ryoma he knew would never go out of his way to help someone but that didn't stop him from giving her tips on her tennis stance and swing. He had also never acknowledged any girl that was not family. His remembrance of her long hair and horrible sense of direction was a huge step for him even though he didn't know it. Also, his reaction to Sakuno-chan's body was also something that had never happened before. It made Ryoga want to laugh hysterically at him. Ryoma was way too dense and ignorant in the ways of love and attraction. He didn't know that he was attracted to Sakuno and that made Ryoga want to tease the hell out of him.

They reached the house quickly with no problems from either Sakuno's sense of direction or any shady characters. Sakuno had relaxed now that she was out of Ryoma's presence. Ryoga had been strangely silent based off of her experiences; the man was extremely talkative and flirtatious.

"Arigato Ryoga-san, I know you didn't have to walk me home."

Ryoga looked at Sakuno's bowed figure and smiled, "It's alright. I couldn't let such a cute girl walk home alone in the dark."

Sakuno blushed then coughed into her hand to try and hide it. Silently she excused herself and began walking toward her front door when Ryoga called out.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the public tennis courts at three then Saku-chan! It's a date!"

Ryoga waited until Sakuno was inside the house to leave. Whistling a tune while walking home with his arms behind his head he thought, _'Looks like I'm going to have to develop training program tonight.'_

####

Sakuno's morning was the same as usual. The only difference was the fact that she was so sore that she could barely get out of bed, but she still woke up late and rushed to put on her clothes. This time she went the correct way to school with her grandmother. Before they parted ways, Sakuno told her that she had an errand to run after school so she wouldn't be staying to watch the tennis practice.

While Sumire found this strange, she didn't ask any questions, something Sakuno was grateful for. She didn't want her grandmother to know about her training with Ryoga quite yet.

Her day passed peacefully. The only interruption being her best friend Tomoka's outburst at her leaving early and missing the boys' tennis practice. When she had told Tomoka that she had an errand to run; the bubbly girl simply pouted before getting a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"_Sakuno…could it be that you have a…date?" She had asked slyly. Sakuno couldn't help but blush when she remembered Ryoga's careless mention of their 'date'._

"_Kyaaaah! It is a date! Sakuno, I give you full permission to go on your date but you must tell me how it went tomorrow! I'm not taking no for an answer!"_

Sakuno sighed as she remembered her best friend's antics. Tomoka was her exact opposite but the two never butt heads. Sometimes she wished she could be like Tomoka: outgoing, talkative, and confident. She admired those traits Tomoka had, even when they got them in trouble.

"Sakuno, don't forget to tell me how it went tomorrow!" Tomoka called out after Sakuno hurriedly left the room, walking straight towards the gate. Neither girl noticed the curious amber eyes that followed Sakuno's form as she left.

####

When she arrived at the public tennis courts, Ryoga was nowhere to be seen. There were already people playing, but not so many that all of the courts were being used. Sakuno decided to go and grab a court before they were all taken. She was hoping that she could find one that was pretty obscured from the view of curious passers.

As luck would have it, there was one such open court. It was slightly more rundown than the other courts, but Sakuno was positive that it was because hardly anyone ever used this particular court. The net was worn and had slight tares, but it was still usable. The court itself had a lot of trash on it and dead leaves cluttered the edges of it, but in a match those would not get in the way.

After a sold fifteen minutes of waiting for Ryoga, Sakuno decided to begin stretching and warming up. The young girl was actually quite flexible, being able to do the splits and place her torso to the ground while in that position. She was even more flexible that Eiji Kikumaru, but was not anywhere near him in terms of reflexes. Sakuno was quite slow reflex-wise and knew it was one of the things she needed to work on but didn't know how.

"Saku-chan, sorry for the wait but I met this pregnant woman and she went into labor when we were speaking so I had to wait with her for a cab!"

Sakuno sweatdropped at his highly unusual excuse but didn't comment on it. She was having a hard time grasping the fact that Ryoga had actually come. After the boy hadn't showed up within the first fifteen minutes, the girl was positive that Ryoga had rethought this and decided that she just wasn't worth the effort.

"Alright Saku-chan, let's get started!" Ryoga exclaimed as he set down a bucket that she just noticed that was full of tennis balls.

"What are we going to be working on Ryoga-san?" Sakuno asked curiously while examining the tennis balls, making a note that they all had a different color ring around them.

Ryoga gave her a smile that sent shivers down her spine while he said, "We're first going to work on your endurance and stamina by running 4 miles every morning and 30 laps around this court before we start practicing. Then during practice we'll be working on a reflex exercise for 30-40 minutes. Your flexibility is extremely good so we will not be focusing on that for now. After working on your reflexes, we'll work on anything else I find you need to work on because Saku-chan, mada mada daze."

Sakuno choked on her saliva and her eyes bulged when she heard that. Sure, Ryoga had said that all with a sweet smile on his face but she could hear the underlying malicious intent hidden within his voice. Just what had she gotten herself into?

####

Ryoma, by nature, was an extremely curious person. His curiosity had gotten him into trouble countless times, but he never could resist it. All day he had been avoiding looking at Sakuno Ryuzaki. Whenever he saw her he couldn't help but see her naked form in his mind again. It was troubling, but the way she acted was intriguing. She hadn't even blushed whenever she looked at him, perhaps him seeing her like…that didn't bother her as much as he had thought it would. She made him curious, so it was by complete chance that he had seen Ryuzaki speak with her friend, Tomoyo…no Tokama…he knew it was Tom-something but couldn't hear what had been said. The next thing he knew was that Ryuzaki was rushing out of the room, clearly heading for the gates of the school instead of the tennis courts like usual.

He ruthlessly shoved his thoughts of her away when tennis practice began, but he couldn't help his eyes straying to that empty spot next to the loud-mouthed girl that cheered for him.

"Saa, if your attention keeps drifting you're going to lose this match Echizen."

The calm, slightly amused voice of Fuji drew his focus back into the match. He didn't even know when they had started playing. Ryoma quickly placed his full focus on the match in front of him.

"Oi Tomoka-chan, where's Sakuno-chan?"

Ryoma's match had just ended with him barely scoring a win against Fuji by one game so when Momoshiro voiced his question, he placed his full attention on Tomoka. The same went for all of the other regulars, excluding Tezuka as he was speaking with the coach about setting up a scrimmage against Hyotei in two months.

"Well sempai, Sakuno had a date," Tomoka giggled out.

The whole tennis court fell silent. All of a sudden there was a clatter as Ryoma's racquet fell to the floor. He didn't know why he felt a huge surge of annoyance at the thought of Ryuzaki going out with someone. He barely talked to her. Sure he had seen her naked, but that was it. No, he decided, there was no possible way that he was mad about Ryuzaki's date. He was most likely angry that he had barely won against Fuji. Yeah, that was it.

Silently, with a huge amount of bloodlust, he picked up his racquet and moved to Momoshiro. Everyone's eyes followed him as he walked towards the slightly shaking second-year.

"Oi Echizen, calm down. I'm sure that Ryuzaki's date is going horribl—

"Play a match with me," Ryoma interrupted darkly.

Sweat began forming on Momoshiro's face and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up from the feel of his kohai's malicious aura.

'_I'll be killed if I play against him when he's like this,'_ Momo looked around desperately at his fellow regulars, _'please help me!'_

The other regulars however, knew better than to interfere when Ryoma was like that. They all simply looked away from Momo and sent out prayers for his safety.

"Let's go Momo-sempai."

"Nooooooooo!"

####

Sakuno was exhausted after the 30 laps. She would have believed it would have been impossible to do without a drop of sweat until Ryoga had proved her wrong when he ran with her. It had taken her about 40 minutes to do, which was extremely good for her considering how sore she was and how little cardio exercises she did. For Ryoga however, this was pitifully slow but he vowed that by the end of two weeks he'd cut her time in half.

"Alright Saku-chan, it's time for reflex training."

Sakuno swore that this man was not human, there was just no way he wasn't tired after that run. When he had given her a five minute break to stretch and cool down, she had fallen to the ground in exhaustion. Now she understood when he said that this would be hard.

She wearily got up from her stretch and slowly walked over to Ryoga. The man was smiling that spine-chilling smile again as he picked up his racquet and a ball from the bucket he had brought.

"Now this exercise is the beginning of the reflex exercise that I have in mind. The first thing we must do is see if you can see the color of the stripe around the tennis ball when it is hit to you. When you can see it 100% of the time when I hit it to you then we'll move on to the next part. Sounds easy right? Well get to the other side of the court so we can start. I'll start off slow and gradually adjust until you can't see it anymore."

Sakuno swallowed hard at his explanation. She won't lie and say that she wasn't frightened. Ryoga's hits at full power were probably scarily fast and strong. She just hoped that he wouldn't be too disappointed with her when this exercise was over. She walked over to the other side of the court and stood there warily.

"Are you ready Sakuno-chan?"

Sakuno gulped at his use of her whole first name but nodded anyway. As soon as he hit it, she saw it zooming towards hit and closed her eyes, fearing that it would hit her. When she felt the air as the ball whizzed past, inches away from her head, she opened her eyes. Trembling slightly, she looked back to where the ball had landed and was horrified to see the green striped ball lodged firmly into the fence behind her. He had hit that harder than any of his hits during their match and he called that hit** slow**. She looked back at Ryoga with wide, fear-filled orbs.

"Sakuno-chan, you have to see the ball to tell me what color stripe it had."

He hit a ball towards her again but she continued to close her eyes in fear. Again and again he hit a ball towards her but she never once opened her eyes. She had frozen on the court with her eyes tightly shut in fear.

Sakuno trembled at the oppressing aura that she felt surrounding Ryoga. It was suffocating and powerful. She cowered against it. It made her feel helpless and she fell to her knees, hitting the ground with a hard 'thud'. There was no point of playing tennis anymore; she could never face off against a player like Ryoga. She should just give up, yes that's right, she could just give up. She was a hopeless case when it came to tennis after all. Everyone had told her so but she had desperately fought against that label.

A strong firm voice broke her from her self-pity, "Are you giving up that easily Sakuno? After all that fight you showed me yesterday, you're just going to give up? Hn, maybe you actually are hopeless at tennis."

All the people who had told her to quit and that she was a horrible tennis player suddenly appeared before her and Ryoga was no longer in front of her. All the disappointed faces of her friends, teammates in middle school, her coaches, her grandmother, Ryoma…her parents. It was too much for her. She didn't want them to look at her like that, like she was hopeless. She wished she could prove them wrong so desperately that it physically hurt.

Then, something just snapped into place within her. All of a sudden her fear of disappointing others was gone; it was replaced with a frighteningly strong resolve to prove them wrong. She was done **wishing **that she could prove them all wrong; she** would **prove them all wrong. She** would** become one of the best.

Slowly, she got up from her fallen position and stood tall.

"Please hit it again Ryoga-san."

This was it; she would show them all her determination, her iron-will, her resolve to become the best.

'_Watch me rise everyone.'_

####

Ryoga knew that what he was doing was risky, but he needed to get rid of her fear and hesitation. She needed a resolve to push her past her limits. This method had her face all of her fears head-on, it could either completely break her as she submits to all the labels or it could make her into something great. He had faith in her that she would put through though. There was something that he had seen in her eyes that made him believe in her whole-heartedly. He had seen that fire in her eyes; that thirst for acknowledgement. She was determined but she lacked a strong resolve. His father had told him much the same.

When he saw her slowly getting up he kept up his cold façade but was internally smiling. When she raised her eyes to meet his, he couldn't help but let out a small smirk. It seemed like she had found her resolve.

"Please hit it again Ryoga-san."

This was it; the historic moment when Sakuno Ryuzaki shed her shy hesitant persona and started on the path to becoming one of the strongest professional tennis players in the world.

####

"**Pok!"**

The sound echoed throughout the whole court.

"Red!"

Ryoga grinned. This was what he had been waiting for. This was what he knew she could do. The last hit had been even faster than the first, but she didn't cower against it. Instead, she stood tall, her eyes wide open with a confidence fitting of someone of her potential.

"**Pok!"**

The sound grew even louder.

"Blue!"

His hits became heavier after each one, but she was still able to see the stripe. In the back of her mind she thought this was insane, she shouldn't be able to see something so fast but she steadfastly ignored it until gradually it disappeared.

"**Pok!"**

The sound was almost deafening.

"Yellow!"

Ryoga was honestly surprised that she could still see the stripe even when he had served at full power. She had even more potential than he had thought. The whole point of today's practice was to simply give her a resolve and show her just how much she can already do. He was only going to be pulling out what was already there for now.

"Good Sakuno, we're done for today."

The girl sat down as soon as those words erupted from his mouth. She was completely and utterly exhausted. When she heard a ringing sound, her head snapped over to where her bag was.

"Moshi moshi. Ah, Oba-san! Ah I didn't even notice that it was 6 already. Yes, I'll be home in a few minutes. See you soon. Bye."

Sakuno looked over toward her new tennis coach and smiled tiredly when she saw that he was back to his old self.

"I'll walk you home Saku-chan, but before we start walking I'd like you to wear these," Ryoga thrust out what looked like 4 thick sweatbands, "These are 5 pound weights for both your wrists and ankles. You'll need to wear these for the entire day or week, until I say you can take them off. Every five days we'll increase your amount by five pounds."

Sakuno looked utterly horrified as he placed them on her. He was smiling that creepy smile again and she swore the man was enjoying her torture.

"With this your speed will increase and so will your muscle strength. Well, let's get going Saku-chan."

In silence, with some grunting from Sakuno from walking with weights on her sore and tired body, they walked towards the Ryuzaki household. Ryoga thought about what was next on their training menu while Sakuno wondered if she was going to survive his training.

"Arigato Ryoga-san, I'll see you tomorrow morning at 5."

Ryoga smiled and waved at her until she went into the house. Smirking at the torture—training, he had planned for tomorrow.

####

Sakuno nodded at her grandmother tiredly and almost broke out in tears at the sight of all the steps she had to climb to get up to the shower. Ever so slowly she began to climb, step after step, thinking about her new goal.

'_I will become one of the best. I know I can do it and with Ryoga-san by my side, it's almost guaranteed that I will become one of the best. Just wait everyone, I'll be at your level soon enough.'_

####

**End of Chapter 2: The Strongest Resolve**

**Notes:**

**Arigato: Thank you**

**Sempai: Upper-classman**

**Kohai: Under-classmen**

**Oba-san: Grandmother**

**Chibisuke: Shorty**

**Chibi: Little one**

**Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!**

**-SJB**


	3. A Leap Forward

**Hello everyone, special thanks to Franzis-chan, mysweetkat, Sakuno8, and kuriko-chan for reviewing! Also thank you to all those who followed and/or favorited this story.**

**This is a Sakuno-Centric fic. I hope to finish this fic soon but I am not a regular with my updates. This is also a slow building RyogaXSakuno fic. This story is also unbeta'ed so please try to ignore any minor grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis or any of its characters.**

**Word count: 4,585**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: A Leap Forward #### **

If Sakuno had any doubts about Ryoga not being human, they were blown away when the next morning came. The man had run the four miles with her, changing pace every ten minutes and making her follow with him or else she'd have to run an extra mile. That day she had run about eight miles instead of the promised four. She nearly had to drag herself back to her house. The weights hadn't helped her either and made the journey home even more taxing than usual.

Her whole body was sore, but she still had to go to school. She desperately wanted to cry but her tired body wouldn't let her. Silently she cursed Ryoga, something she had never done before but was quickly picking up the bad habit.

Slowly, she began undoing her messy braid. It had been nice and neat before the run, but Ryoga's jogging paths were not real paths made by the city. Instead, he had her running up and down hills that she never knew existed in Tokyo, through parks, jumping over street benches, running through crowds of people, etc.

Ryoga had somehow managed to end the run only slightly flushed and panting lightly whereas Sakuno was a harried mess and looked as if she was going to pass out. Her braids had gotten caught in bushes, clothing, bags, and had been a huge burden the entire time. Now she understood what Ryoma had meant when he had said that she should cut her hair. Ryoga had also mentioned the same thing, but she didn't know if she wanted to lose the last thing of the person she had been.

Carefully she peeled the leaves and twigs from her hair and undressed as she turned on the shower. It had been a struggle this morning, but she could already feel her body getting a little bit stronger. That was all that mattered, so if she had to continue going through this torture to become stronger, she didn't really mind it.

####

Something was off today. Sumire Ryuzaki had woken up at 7:30 as usual. She had gotten dressed quickly and walked down the stairs before calling up to Sakuno to get ready at 7:40. Only she didn't hear Sakuno scream and scrambling upstairs to get ready. Instead, when she walked into the kitchen, she found her young granddaughter putting jam on her toast calmly. Sakuno seemed to have all of her things packed and was waiting for her.

It was so…odd. Sumire had realized that Sakuno was growing up, but never had she thought their routine would be interrupted.

"So, what's the occasion Sakuno? You're never up this early."

Sumire was even more surprised when Sakuno simply smiled at her and stated that she had recently taken to jogging in the morning. This completely stunned the elder woman because Sakuno had responded calmly, without stuttering or any hint of a blush. Perhaps her granddaughter was finally growing up.

"Aa. At what time did you leave because I didn't hear you?"

"I left at 5." Sakuno calmly ate her breakfast at the dining table, the run this morning ha rid her of any nerves she might have had.

Sumire choked on her saliva, "In the morning!? Who are you and what have you done to my granddaughter?"

This time Sakuno blushed. She knew that she wasn't a morning person, but she didn't think this was too unbelievable.

Sumire, seeing that her granddaughter was embarrassed, coughed and asked one last question.

"Are you going to be safe while running?"

Sakuno nodded her head as fast as her tired body would allow. Her grandmother sighed but nodded. As long as the girl was safe then it would be alright.

"Well let's go Sakuno."

####

Sakuno had been practically interrogated the moment she stepped into her classroom. Tomoka was relentless in her questions about her 'date' last night.

"Tomoka, it wasn't a date. I really did have an errand to run." Sakuno tried to lie but the higher pitch to her voice gave her away.

"Kyaaah! It totally was a date. Sakuno, who was it with? Is he from here? Is he in our year? Is he older," She grinned when Sakuno blushed, "It was an OLDER guy! Sakuno is he hot? You've got to tell me!"

Luckily for Sakuno, the teacher walked in and she was able to escape Tomoka before she figured out about Sakuno's training.

As soon as the teacher began to lecture, her mind began to wander and her body began to feel the toll of that morning's run. Her eyelids drooped and there was nothing she could have done to have prevented the deep sleep she fell into.

####

The next time she woke up it was lunch time and the kids were milling about the room, either eating lunch or just chatting with their friends. Sakuno hastily wiped away the slight drool from her mouth before anyone could see.

The young girl placed her head into her hands and groaned. She had missed more than half of her classes due to her nap. She wasn't even sure anyone had noticed her sleeping. She thankfully did not snore in her sleep and she could have afforded to sleep through the first half of her classes. She was the top in all of them except English, where she was second, behind only Ryoma.

"SAKUNO!"

Sakuno froze when she heard Tomoka's voice. She needed to hide, but there was nowhere to hide because someone would tell Tomoka where she was hiding. She could run, but the only exit was where her friend was going to come in.

'_I think I can make it. Tomoka sounded as if she was at least four doors down. I could make it if I started running…' _

"NOW!" Sakuno yelled as she ran through the door and down the hall.

Tomoka spotted her as soon as she had exited the class. There was a crowd in the hall, but it wasn't quite as big as the crowds she had run through this morning. She could do it. She could run through without getting caught by Tomoka.

She had learned that to be able to run through crowds, you needed to do two things, One, always be watching everyone's movements. Ryoga had told her that her eyes were fast enough to see every little movement in a crowd. The second was to never fear bumping into someone. If you thought about anything other than focusing on running through then you'd miss something and crash.

With those positive thoughts and tips in mind, Sakuno Ryuzaki set herself and ran. She ran straight, directly at Tomoka. Those who stopped to watch the commotion looked on in surprise when shy little Sakuno Ryuzaki ran straight towards Tomoka, spinning at the last second to avoid a collision and darting through the entire crowd as if they weren't moving.

Three sets of eyes widened as they watched the scene unfold. One set of amber, another of piercing blue, and the last of the bubbly girl's light brown.

Once Sakuno turned the corner and ran down the stairs, carefully avoiding bumping into anyone they all unfroze.

"Hm."

"Saa, things are getting interesting."

"SAKUNO!"

####

The day ended with Sakuno still avoiding Tomoka like the plague. The only time the young Ryuzaki sort-of interacted with her friend was when she left a note on Tomoka's desk saying that she had something to do before rushing out of the classroom.

"Mou. Sakuno-chan ran away again," Tomoka sighed as she watched the Regulars practice. She knew that she probably shouldn't have been so pushy about getting answers, but she had never thought Sakuno might avoid her because of it. She sighed again before reflecting on the moment Sakuno ran from her, "I never even knew that she was so fast either."

"Tomoka-chan! What happened nyah? You look sad."

Tomoka blushed when she looked up at her hyperactive sempai's curious face.

"N-nothing Kikumaru-sempai," She stuttered out.

Eiji looked around the court before turning back to Tomoka and asked, "Where's Sakuno-chan nyah? I thought she'd be here today."

Tomoka's face darkened when she thought of Sakuno running from her, but still responded to the question, "She had something to do today sempai," muttering out the last part, "She's probably on a date with that hot older guy she didn't want me to know about."

"EH! SAKUNO-CHAN"S DATING AN OLDER MAN!"

Just like yesterday, silence fell upon the tennis court. Then an even greater surge of bloodlust flooded the atmosphere.

"Kikumaru-sempai, let's play a match."

Kikumaru shivered when he heard the tone Ryoma used. This was going to be even worse than Ryoma's last match with Momoshiro. He frantically shook his head and tried to run, but Ryoma gripped his arm in an iron-hold.

"Nyah Ochibi I don't think we should play right now. Buchou hasn't permitted it and—

"Buchou said that we should all find a partner to play with for the rest of practice when you went over here to practice. So let's go sempai."

"OISHI SAVE ME NYAH!"

####

"Good job Saku-chan, you ran those laps five minutes faster than last time!"

Sakuno simply panted from her stretch when Ryoga made his cheerful announcement. He hadn't run with her this time. Instead, he had timed her as he got the court ready. For what, she did not know.

"Alright Sakuno, this time we're moving on to the next part of your reflex training. This time I'm going to throw balls at you and you're going to have to catch the ones with the colors that I call out. This requires both good reflexes and speed. We'll be working on this the whole practice until you can successfully catch all of the colors I throw at you. Then when you gain enough speed, I'll hit them to you with my racquet. You ready?"

Sakuno gulped but nodded as she made her way to the other side of the court.

Ryoga grinned as he got into position.

"Then let's begin shall we?"

####

The man was a monster! She had thought that maybe his throws would be much slower than his serves, but that hope was shattered when he threw the first few balls. She had caught three out of the five he called out, it would have been four but one was the wrong color so she had to go once again.

They had been doing this exercise for at least 40 minutes when Ryoga told her to take off her weights. She had been able to move slightly faster. It was enough to catch four of the five tosses correctly, but she wasn't quick enough to catch the last one.

"Alright Sakuno-chan, that's enough for today, come get a drink of water."

Sakuno frowned. She may have made some progress on the exercise but it still wasn't enough for her. If she stopped now, it would be like she failed both herself and Ryoga.

"I don't need water. Could we please continue Ryoga-san?"

Ryoga was a bit surprised that she wasn't stopping yet. Who knew that shy little Sakuno could be so stubborn? He paused for a bit but complied with her request.

"Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple!"

Sakuno ran back to catch both the red and purple striped balls before shuffling sideways to grab the yellow ball and jumping to grab the green one. Rapidly scanning the air for the blue ball, she saw it on the opposite side of her. She didn't know why she did it, but she did. All she knew was that she did not want to fail Ryoga-san.

Sakuno threw herself at the last ball in a last ditch effort of catching it and reached out with her left arm. It slipped past her fingers by a few centimeters and she fell to the ground hard.

"Sakuno! Are you alright?!" Ryoga ran to the girl frantically. He didn't think she'd actually throw herself to catch the ball. He had greatly underestimated her determination.

Sakuno groaned as she slowly got up, not even looking at Ryoga. She had landed where there were some rocks so she had a few cuts and some newly forming bruises, but other than that she was ok. She had almost had it, that last ball but it slipped past her.

A cat's meow caught her attention as it walked on the ledge of the fence that separated the tennis court from the street. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. She could beat this exercise like that.

Ryoga was seriously questioning if Sakuno needed medical attention when she started laughing after that nasty fall. His student slowly got up and asked him for another round.

"Sakuno I think we should sto— that look in her eyes stopped any protest he had. It was a look that he often had when he knew he was going to win a match; a belief of utter confidence that she would do this.

"Alright," he said as he walked over towards the opposite side of the court.

"Pink, green, orange, brown, blue!"

Sakuno moved towards the left to catch the pink and orange balls. Then she twisted to catch the green and brown balls. Using her momentum, she ran straight back towards the fence and used it as a spring board to launch herself into a front flip in the air and land directly in front of the blue ball.

"I…did it," Sakuno's eyes widened, "I…really did it!"

Ryoga was just as stunned as she was. He would have never thought she would overcome her lack of speed by using acrobatics. She wouldn't be an actual acrobatics tennis player though because she didn't have enough strength to pull of those flips without a springboard, but he had to admit it was pretty clever.

"Yeah you did it Saku-chan. I would however advise you to never do that again. I would have never thought you would have used the fence as a springboard."

Sakuno blushed proudly, "Well, when I saw the cat up there I thought of Kikumaru-sempai and I wondered what he would do. I knew that surely he'd use his acrobatic skills to catch all of the balls but I'm not as strong as him to flip on my own so I used something else."

Ryoga simply laughed at her explanation, wiped tears from his eyes and slung an arm around her shoulder.

"Well, I would have never expected the shy little Sakuno that I met would do something as reckless as that."

Sakuno pondered this before speaking aloud, "Well, I am a different person now Ryoga-san. I'm not the same girl I used to be, but I …think I like it this way."

Ryoga simply smiled at her and the two began to walk towards Sakuno's house. Before they reached the house however, Sakuno decided to pull Ryoga into a small shop.

"What's wrong Saku-chan? Aren't we going to your hou— he looked around, noticing that they were at a hair stylist.

"I-I want to really change myself from the person that I used to be. Also, at my level my braids only hinder me when I play tennis. Perhaps when I get better I'll grow it out again, but until that time I cannot continue to play with them."

Ryoga nodded seriously at his young student. It was true, the braids only got in her way when jogging and playing tennis. Not to mention whenever she turned around fast he had to dodge her braids.

"Alright, if this is what you really want Saku-chan."

Sakuno nodded determinedly and walked up to the counter where a hair-stylist smiled kindly at her. She had made her decision, it hurt her to let go of her braids but she wasn't the same Sakuno as before. No, she was going to change.

####

It was around 5 p.m. when the stylist finished Sakuno's hair. The young girl had decided to give donate her hair to the cancer society. It was better for them to receive it because it was necessary than to throw it away.

The stylist was absolutely ecstatic when Sakuno told her this. Not many teens donated their hair so every little bit counted. Sakuno's 22 inches of hair was like a dream donation that rarely, if ever happened.

"Ryoga-san I'm ready to go."

Ryoga quickly looked up from the magazine he was reading and stared. When Sakuno had said she wanted to change, he didn't think she would change this much.

The young girl's hair was now just a little bit past her chin, but was styled into a cute cut. She had her small flower-clip on, pinning back a small portion of her bangs and a smile on her face. Sakuno looked more like her age and, dare he think it, cuter than she used to be. She also had a new air of confidence about her. It was barely noticeable but Ryoga could still feel it.

"You look so cute Saku-chan. I'm going to have to be beating the boys off with a stick now because with the way you look, boys will be after you in droves." Ryoga chuckled and Sakuno blushed a deep red.

"A-a-arigato Ryoga-san."

The pair then walked to Sakuno's home in a comfortable silence. They reached the house in ten minutes and said goodbye, with the promise to meet again the next morning.

####

Sumire Ryuzaki loved her granddaughter very much. The small girl that she had first met had tugged at her heartstrings and made her want to constantly protect her. She noticed everything about the girl, so it wasn't a huge surprise that she had noticed the changes in her granddaughter over the past two months.

The changes had begun the day Sakuno had ran the wrong way to school, but they were so small then that she hadn't noticed more until days later. It had been a huge surprise when her granddaughter had gone running at five in the morning. She no longer spent her time watching the boys' tennis practices, instead running off to go run 'errands'. Sumire almost had a heart-attack when Sakuno came home without her customary braids. Her hair was now styled in a cute short cut that she had seen on a model once in a fashion magazine.

The young girl would also come home at around 5 every day, eat dinner, shower, do homework, and go straight to bed. She didn't hang out with her friend Tomoka as much anymore either. It worried her a bit and when she asked Sakuno about it the girl divulged that she was doing some intense tennis training. Sumire would have disbelieved this claim, if not for the steady gain of lithe muscle that Sakuno had achieved.

The only reason Sumire had decided not to tell her granddaughter to stop was because of the slow but sure gain of confidence the girl was getting. It was subtle, but Sumire saw it. It was there, in the way she held herself a little straighter than before and how she would look people in the eyes. Sumire was proud of her granddaughter and she trusted her judgment, so she allowed Sakuno to continue.

####

"Good job today Sakuno, I think you might be ready to play a real match with someone besides me."

Aforementioned girl simply grimaced from her place on the ground. The past two months had been absolute torture. She would have been positive that Ryoga's methods were only meant for pain if she had not seen the results after it. He constantly pushed her to her limits, and just as she thought she was about to break, he'd continue to encourage her.

The two had become good friends. Ryoga was able to tease her without her fainting on him like she had the first few times. In turn Sakuno was allowed to mother him whenever she felt it necessary.

Ryoga had fixed all her problems with serving and she was well on her way to creating one of her own special serves, it was based off of the twist serve. The only difference was that hers spun so fast that it creates a small dust storm, making it virtually impossible to see the ball. Her Kamikakushi shot and Mirage serve were also part of her arsenal. Both she and Ryoga found that she had a certain knack for controlling the spin on the ball. It was at such a high level that she could virtually make any ball seem like it disappeared. That was her tennis style, Illusionary tennis.

Her Illusionary tennis focused mainly on speed and ball control. It wasn't quite hard for Sakuno to perform these techniques, but when she tried to teach Ryoga she found that she was a prodigy in control. Power didn't matter for the techniques as long as she had speed. Although she would have a tough match against any power tennis players.

"Ah, I don't know Ryo-kun. I can barely win a set against you on a good day. I don't think I'm ready yet."

Ryoga rolled his eyes and sat down next to Sakuno. The girl didn't even know that she was an absolute monster when it came to tennis. He had been expecting it to be well over five months before she could play others. He had once again greatly underestimated Sakuno's ability to absorb everything he showed her. That was another thing that they overcame.

Sakuno had explained to him that when her grandmother had given her instructions on how to fix her serves she hadn't understood. She had also tried to show Sakuno but the girl always had questions and was too shy to voice them which was a huge part as to why her form had been so atrocious. Luckily by that time he had gotten much better at reading her face so he could tell just what she had questions on.

Her ability to see all the weaknesses of a player on the court had also grown. Now, on all of their matches he had to pull out all of the stops to keep her from winning a set. It was difficult but slowly his weaknesses on the court were becoming smaller and smaller. The two grew together in their skills, with Ryoga trying desperately to keep her from winning a set.

"Sakuno, I'm absolutely positive you're ready. In fact, I think this is a little late to have you play others."

Sakuno looked up at the boy and worried her lip, "I-I don't know. I can't beat you yet."

Ryoga sighed and pulled her up, "Sakuno your being unfair to yourself. I am not a normal tennis player and neither are you. You push me to my limits to keep you from winning a set. Not many people can say that. Also, you have brand new techniques that no one in the tennis world has seen yet. You'll be fine."

Sakuno smiled softly. Ryoga's words had given her confidence. "Alright, I'll play against others."

Ryoga's smile became sweeter, "I'm glad you agreed because I already signed you up for the tennis tournament at the tennis gardens on Saturday."

Sakuno chocked on her saliva and looked at Ryoga with wide eyes.

"YOU DID WHAT!?"

####

Sakuno sighed tiredly as she remembered what Ryoga had done. It was Friday already and she was extremely nervous about tomorrow. It didn't help that Ryoga had canceled their practice for today. He had said something about her needing to calm herself before the tournament.

So far she had spent the school day in relative peace, speaking with her friend Tomoka. It had been ages since they had actually sat down and just talked. Sakuno sorely missed it. She had of course fixed Tomoka's misunderstanding about her supposed 'date' and told her that she was doing some tennis training. The bubbly girl had still been a bit suspicious but accepted her friend's answer. He had then fussed over her friend's cute new haircut.

The two decided to stay after school and watch the tennis practice like old-times and stood by the fence. They were instantly surrounded by their sempai when they all saw that Sakuno was there.

"Sakuno-chan!"

"Ryuzaki-chan!"

"Sakuno-san!"

"Fshuuu."

"Sakuno!"

"Sa-chan!"

"Hn, Ryuzaki."

The girl simply smiled at all of the tennis players. They were all stunned and pleased that she was there. For the past two months whenever her absence was mentioned, Ryoma would claim another victim. All of the Regulars' eyes flashed in hope. Maybe she and her older boyfriend finally broke up.

"Sakuno, what's this I hear about you playing in the Kanigawa **(made this up) **Tennis Garden's tournament tomorrow?" Her grandmother asked as she walked over towards them.

Sakuno blushed lightly as everyone's attention landed on her.

"EH!" The collective group yelled out in complete surprise.

"Ne, ne Sa-chan, is it true?" Kikumaru asked with wide eyes, everyone else waiting with baited breath.

"Aa. It's true. I'm playing tomorrow in the eighteen and under age group."

Again everyone yelled.

"WHAT? YOU'RE ONLY 15 SA-CHAN! WHO KNOWS WHAT THOSE OLD MEN WILL TRY—

"Eiji, you're seventeen," Oishi interrupted softly.

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER! WHAT MATTERS IS THAT SAKUNO MIGHT GET HURT!"

Sakuno didn't know whether she should be flattered at her sempai's worry or offended that they thought she couldn't handle herself in a tennis match with an eighteen-year-old.

Sakuno quickly entered the conversation before anyone else could also object, "Please calm down! I'll be fine sempai! I've been playing against Ryo-kun for the past two months and he's eighteen. I can handle it."

Surprise showed on everyone's face that their little Sakuno would yell at them except Tomoka's. Instead, her friend had a sly smile on her face as she teased Sakuno, "AHA! I knew it! You were going out with an older guy! Ryo-kun huh? Sure sounds like the two of you are pretty close."

Ryoma's aura suddenly became extremely dark as his killer intent quickly flooded the atmosphere. The Regulars all slowly began edging away from him.

Sakuno blushed and flusteredly tried to correct her friend, "No Tomo-chan you've got it all wro—

Sumire Ryuzaki finally decided that she'd had enough of hearing her granddaughter's private life aired out in front of her, "Sakuno, are you sure you can do this?"

Sakuno turned towards her grandmother and nodded determinedly. She could do this, Ryoga believed in her.

Sumire's serious face broke into a smile as she said, "Well then if Sakuno says she can do it, you all should believe in her as well."

The regulars pouted but then smiled at Sakuno. The girl had changed from the shy little girl she had been in middle school.

"Alright Sakuno-chan! Tomorrow we'll go and support you at the tournament then."

Sakuno smile became slightly strained but before she could protest, the tennis players had already run off to go practice.

"This is going to be great right Sakuno? All of the Regulars going to cheer you on tomorrow!" Tomoka squealed as she turned to look worriedly over at her quiet friend.

"Eh? Sakuno. Oi Sakuno-chan!"

Tomoka poked her frozen friend and she fell over.

"KYAH! Sakuno-chan what's wrong?"

'_**ALL**__ of the __**Regulars **__will be going to watch __**me**__ tomorrow,_' with that thought repeating, Sakuno Ryuzaki fainted.

####

**End of chapter three: A Leap Forward**

**Yay chapter three is finished. I know that this chapter isn't as exciting as the last two but these types of chapters are necessary. The next one will be all about the tournament so I hope that it makes it up to you all. Please leave a review, I love hearing from you all.**

**-SJB**


	4. A Prodigy Is Revealed

**Hello everyone, sorry for the late update!**

**This is a Sakuno-Centric fic. I hope to finish this fic soon but I am not a regular with my updates. This is also a slow building RyogaXSakuno story is also unbeta'ed so please try to ignore any minor grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis or any of its characters.**

**Word Count: 5,917**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: A Prodigy is Revealed#### **

Sakuno gulped as she paced back and forth next to a sakura tree in the Kanigawa Tennis Gardens. After she had woken up from her fainting spell, the only thing her mind could focus on was the fact that all of the Seigaku Regulars were going to watch her at the tournament. She was in such a panic that she did not notice when someone else walked up to her.

"Ryuzaki?"

'_It'll be alright Sakuno. You can still do this. You just have to stay calm. Yeah that's right, stay ca—'_

"Oi Ryuzaki."

"I CAN'T DO THIS!" Sakuno screamed out, sweating from nerves.

"Ryuzaki stop ignoring me."

Sakuno finally noticed the person who had walked up to her during her mild panic-attack.

"R-R-Ryoma-kun."

The youngest Echizen was standing there looking at her blankly, customary cap on, and a grape Ponta in hand. Looking at him made Sakuno realize again why she was panicking.

'_R-R-Ryoma-kun's here. That means that all the others are here as well,'_ she thought, already feeling faint. Sakuno had gotten much better at controlling her fainting and blushing tendencies but under much duress, she lost all control of herself.

"Oi Ryuzaki! Stop doing that." Ryoma's voice broke through the slight haze that she had fallen under.

"G-Gomen R-R-Ryoma-kun." She stuttered, to which he gave an annoyed look.

"What's wrong with you Ryuzaki? You haven't stuttered in a month, why are you doing it now?" Ryoma internally winced at his pinched tone. He had meant for it to come out slightly concerned but he really didn't have much experience in that area.

"A-Ano, it's b-b-because well…" Sakuno trailed off as she bit her lip and looked from the court where the matches had already begun and back to Ryoma.

Ryoma blinked as he put everything together. Sakuno was nervous about playing in front of them. He was stunned, she had looked so confident the other day.

'_Although that was before we all decided to go and support her.'_ Ryoma thought as he watched her nervously bite her lip. '_She's not going to be able to play her best if this continues, but I don't know how to help her.' _

Sakuno let out a small squeal when she felt something being thrust onto her head, shortly blocking her view. When she looked up, she saw that Ryoma didn't have on his cap. He also had what looked like red tinged cheeks, but she brushed it off as a trick of the light.

"We'll cheer for you whether you win or lose baka. The only reason we'll be unhappy with you is if you don't give it your all…so just relax ok and play your best."

Ryoma had already begun to walk away when he remembered something. He turned his head and called out, "Oh and Ryuzaki, ganbattene."

He whirled around so fast that he missed the bright smile that Sakuno gave him as she whispered a soft, "Arigato Ryoma-kun."

####

Ryoga frowned a bit when he saw the small interaction his student had with his younger brother. Both were so shy, or in Ryoma's case too dense, to show their true feelings. He stubbornly ignored the sudden clenching feeling in his chest when he saw the pair together.

When he learned that the Seigaku Regulars were all going to be watching the tournament, he had been worried about Sakuno's state of mind. Sure the girl had gotten much better, but she was still as fragile as she was before when it came to her friends watching her play. She would be fine of course, he had scouted out her competition and so far there were none that could compare.

He had rushed out of his house earlier this morning to find her, but she was too well hidden. By the time he had found her, his brother had already beaten him to the punch. It seemed that Ryoma's little pep-talk had done the trick and he didn't even need to go and reassure her.

The older teen clenched his fist and bit the inside of his cheek. It was an unconscious habit of his that came out when he was feeling very emotional, and right now the sight of his brother and Sakuno in such a lovey-dovey situation made him very irritated.

"Che. Just what are you doing to me Sakuno?"

####

Sakuno gulped as she stepped onto the court, but relaxed when she touched the brim of Ryoma's cap. She blushed when she remembered a few minutes ago. He had been so nice to her. It was refreshing to hear such honest concern from someone like Ryoma. Although she was slightly disappointed that Ryoga hadn't come to find her and speak with her.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts; she needed to focus on her match. Ryoga had told her not to use any of her techniques or take off her weights unless necessary but looking at the brawny male in front of her, she couldn't help but feel a bit of fear. Her opponent was looking at her as if she was his next meal. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Hey pretty thing, how's about ya give up now and I'll take ya out ta dinner tonight?" The disgusting boy said while licking his lips.

Sakuno hid a small shiver of disgust and slowly walked up to the net and asked in a slightly wavering voice, "Rough or Smooth?"

The boy obviously heard the fear in her voice and laughed maliciously as he looked her up and down, making Sakuno grimace. "Smooth, like how I'm sure your creamy skin is gonna feel tonight."

Sakuno's hand shook in both disgust and anger as she spun her racquet. It clattered to the floor softly and both sides took their places, with the boy to serve.

Sakuno pulled the brim of Ryoma's cap down to cover her eyes, a move she had seen the prince do countless times. It was time she got serious and focused on this game.

"The game between Ryuuta Fujisaki and Sakuno Ryuzaki will now begin. Fujisaki to serve."

Sakuno looked up at her opponent, eyes as cold as ice and smiled softly. This was going to be _fun._

####

The boy's comments about Sakuno had not been very quiet. The whole crowd that had gathered to watch the match had all heard _exactly_ what the boy had said. This included the super-overprotective Seigaku tennis team and one particularly vicious grandmother.

"WHAT DID THAT LITTLE ** *#&$^** SAY!?" Eiji shouted as the frowning Oishi tried to calm him down.

"FSHUU!" Kaidoh hissed in anger.

"BURNING! I WILL RIP HIM TO PIECES!" Kawamura yelled while wielding a racquet, no one was sure how he'd gotten it, his eyes gleaming.

"RAGH!" Momo raged.

"Hm, perhaps he should have a small 'accident'?" Fuji's eyes were wide open and gleaming with an eerie light.

Tezuka's glasses glinted and he nodded along with Fuji's idea.

"Hn." Ryoma's fists tightened around the fence he was grabbing.

"Hm, maybe I should use him as my next test subject for my newest juice?"

Every one paused at this before giving evil grins. That was an **extremely** appealing idea. Instead of death they should make the little pervert suffer.

"You should all be quiet and pay close attention to the match. There's no way Saku-chan would be beaten by this loser, but she just might surprise you." A familiar voice said as they all turned to face the speaker.

"Aniki? What are you doing here?" Ryoma questioned with a frown.

"Yo chibisuke and friends, I'd love to answer your questions but I'm here to watch Sakuno's match. It's already starting." Ryoga smiled cheerily as he faced the court again.

"Eh, but I'm worried about Sa-chan. She looks like she's afraid." Eiji mumbled weakly as he watched the way Sakuno's hand trembled.

"Heh, no that kid's angry as hell. This is gonna be a quick and brutal match." Ryoga said smirking as he watched Sakuno pull the brim of her cap down over her eyes. He was of course annoyed with what the little punk across from her said, but was soothed with the knowledge that Sakuno would issue a good enough punishment.

"Eh, but you haven't ever met Sakuno so how would you know?" Eiji pouted as he said this but his eyes never left Sakuno's form.

All of them turned to Fuji when they heard him gasp. His piercing blue eyes were wide open as he watched Sakuno on the court.

"Her eyes have changed."

Eiji looked back at Sakuno curiously, but her eye color was the same. "What do you mean Fujiko? Sa-chan's eyes are still the same color."

Fuji looked seriously at Eiji before responding, "No, Eiji-kun. I meant that Sakuno is completely different now."

"Eh? You're right!"

All of the Seigaku members and Sumire Ryuzaki watched in shock as their shaking little Sakuno turned into a confident albeit slightly malicious being.

"Hoo, he really must've pissed her off. She's gonna completely crush him." Ryoga predicted in an amused tone.

The Regulars all watched as Fujisaki served. It was a normal serve, maybe it had slightly more power than average behind it but that was it. It was something that none of them would have any trouble with but from what they had seen of Sakuno, it was almost as if they were watching a bullet shoot towards her.

They watched as she ran towards the ball, shocked when she easily hit the ball back to her opponent's side. The return was nowhere near as fast or as strong as Momoshiro's or Kawamura's returns but was surprisingly strong for a girl of Sakuno's age and stature.

The ball landed directly on the opposite side of where her opponent was, earning her a point. This caused Eiji to let out a quiet whoop and high-five Momoshiro while the rest simply smiled or smirked.

Fujisaki looked absolutely furious that the small girl was able to score against him. He had been expecting the small girl to either miss the ball or not run to it at all. After his first serve, she just kept on scoring like it was nothing. Honestly he felt like she was toying with him at times. The score was already 5 games- 0 in her favor and it was **pissing him off.**

'_So the little bitch thinks I'm not worth her time huh? Well get a load a'this!' _He thought with a vicious smirk as he served.

The ball was sent flying towards Sakuno's face with no bounce intended.

The crowd froze as they saw the serve's intended target not even move out of the way. Then all of a sudden the girl dipped forward, swinging her racquet backwards toward the air as the ball past her head.

"AH! Oishi isn't that Marui's…" Eiji trailed off when Sakuno returned the ball.

It bounced directly in front of her opponent and flew straight up to hit him directly in the face.

"It c-can't be." Oishi stuttered in shock as Sakuno's opponent fell to the ground.

"G-Game, Set, and Match, Sakuno Ryuzaki advances!" The umpire choked out as he ran to go and check on Fujisaki.

"That was Bunta Marui's Temporal Difference Hell technique! Sakuno shouldn't be able to do that!" Sumire yelled in shock as she watched her granddaughter walk off the court and towards them.

"No, that was a different technique."

Everyone turned to look over at Fuji while Inui began logging Sakuno's match into his data book.

"What do you mean Fuji-sempai? That was definitely Marui's technique!" Momoshiro yelled out as whispers broke out amongst the spectators.

"No, Fuji is right. The spin that she put on the ball was different," Tezuka's cool voice rang out, silencing the rest of the Seigaku team.

"The Tensai is correct. Sakuno's technique was actually based off of the Rikkaidai red head's but unlike him; she has complete control over where she wants the ball to go."

They all turned to Ryoga with wide eyes. That was virtually impossible to do. If she could control the ball like that then she would be…

Ryoga grinned at their stunned faces, "That's right. That girl's a genius when it comes to ball control."

The stunned group didn't know what to say about this news. Could Sakuno really have had that much ability and have it completely overlooked.

'_Ryuzaki, just what have you been doing these past few months?' _Ryoma thought before he turned and grinned. Sakuno Ryuzaki just became far more interesting than he had ever thought possible.

####

Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, another person's gaze followed the young girl that had just won.

"That was my Temporal Difference Hell…"

####

When Sakuno reached the group, they began to bombard her with questions.

"Sakuno just when did you get so good?"

"Saa…Sakuno-chan just what have you been doing these past two months?"

"Did you have a teacher?"

"Hn, Ryuzaki what's your relationship with my aniki?"

Everyone paused at Ryoma's question. Ryoga did know an awful lot about Sakuno. It was beginning to make them suspicious.

Before Sakuno could even open her mouth to answer, Eiji and Momoshiro had already jumped to conclusions.

"YOU'RE A PERVERTED STALKER! Don't worry Sakuno-chan, we'll protect you!" Eiji yelled as he pushed Sakuno behind him and Momoshiro stood in front of them protectively.

"No! Sempai, Ryo-kun's not a stalker! He's—

Momoshiro covered his mouth in horror. "He's the older guy you've been dating for the past two months right?" He turned to Ryoga and yelled, "YOU EVIL PERVERT! YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF SAKUNO'S NAIEVETY!"

Sakuno pushed Eiji out of the way and grabbed Momoshiro before he could lunge at Ryoga. She gave Ryoga a pleading look but he didn't see it because he was too busy teasing his very angry and very jealous younger brother.

"…Aniki, are you really the one that has been dating Ryuzaki for the past two months?"

Ryoga smirked mischievously as he said, "Well, she's been with me every afternoon for the past two months. You know she's just so cute that sometimes I can't keep myself off of her."

Ryoma's aura completely changed. He became eerily silent and he gripped his can of ponta so hard that he crushed it.

"So you're the reason she's missed our practices for the past two months?"

Ryoga, not noticing the changes in Ryoma merely nodded with a huge smile on his face.

"Kono yaro," Ryoma grit out before he rushed at his older brother.

"ENOUGH!" Tezuka's commanding voice caused everyone to freeze. He turned toward Sakuno and said, "Now Ryuzaki-chan will explain all this so stay silent until she finishes. **Is that clear**?"

Everyone nodded and true to their word, stayed silent until Sakuno finished explaining everything.

"So he," Ryoma pointed to Ryoga, "is not your boyfriend?"

Sakuno blushed and shook her head while saying, "No, we're just friends."

Ryoma looked relieved for a few seconds but then it was replaced by his usual smirk.

Meanwhile Ryoga gave a sly smirk as he whispered to himself, "For now."

"So you've been doing some hardcore training with the pervert?" Momoshiro asked, ignoring Ryoga's protest to his new nickname.

"Hai. I'm sorry for worrying you all but I wanted to focus completely on the training."

Fuji smiled with his eyes closed as he asked, "Well Sakuno it seemed to have paid off, but what was that last technique called?"

Everyone turned to Sakuno as she smiled proudly, "That was my Angelic Return. Unlike Marui-san, I can control where I hit the ball so it isn't a double-edged sword for me."

Inui's glasses glinted when he asked, "Ryuzaki-chan, you learned that move from watching Marui-kun use it against us that one time correct?"

Sakuno nodded, a bit confused by the question.

"You are a true genius then Ryuzaki-chan," the data tennis player explained.

Sakuno turned tomato red and sputtered. She frantically shook her head saying that without Ryoga's teachings she wouldn't have gotten this far so she was just a hard worker and not a genius. They all laughed happily at her familiar display of bashfulness and relaxed.

The rest of Sakuno's matched went smoothly, with her never losing a set. She didn't use any of her other techniques other than the basics during the rest of her matches. The young girl beat her opponents easily with her surprising speed and control. Several times she surprised the Seigaku group but not as much as when she used the Angelic Return.

It wasn't long before she made her way into the finals. They had not been watching the other matches so it was a mystery as to who Sakuno's final opponent would be.

"Sa-chan you're doing AMAZING! You'll win the tournament FOR SURE!" Eiji shouted as he jumped to hug the small girl. Surprisingly Sakuno was strong enough to hold him up without any problem.

"Eiji-kun's right Sakuno-chan, you're doing wonderfully but don't relax yet. The final match still needs to be played."

Sakuno smiled a bright smile at Fuji, making Ryoma's eye twitch minutely and Ryoga's smile to strain slightly, and nodded. "Thank you Kikumaru-sempai, Fuji-sempai; I know I can't let up just yet."

The youngest Ryuzaki had a feeling that her last match wasn't going to be an easy one. Unlike the others, she had noticed who would be playing her in the finals. She would need to pull out every trick she had for this one.

"Ah, the match is going to start soon. I've got to go. Arigato again Sempai," Sakuno yelled as she ran towards the court.

"Ok. GANBATTENE SAKUNO!"

####

"Oi, why is the Seigaku tennis team here?"

The team turned in surprise toward the speaker. It was Akaya Kirihara from Rikkaidai. He was with all of the Rikkaidai Regulars except for one.

"What are you all doing here?" Momo asked abruptly but was completely ignored by Akaya.

"Hello Sadaharu," Renji said in a quiet tone as he walked over towards the other data tennis player.

"Echizen, we should get together and have another match. It's been too long since I've played you."

Ryoma grimaced at the thought of playing Yukimura once again. It had been a thrilling match but in the end he had soared above the previously ill tennis captain.

"Yadda."

Before Yukimura could even begin to ask why, Momoshiro yelled, "STOP IGNORING ME! WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE?!"

"We're here to support the red headed idiot," Jackal said smoothly.

"Wait, Marui-kun is in this tournament?" Fuji's eyes were wide-open, unnerving Jackal but he was still able to nod in confirmation.

"NYAH! Then he's playing against Sakuno-chan! This'll be an interesting match, but why would Marui-san want to play in a small tournament like this one?"

Akaya gave Eiji an annoyed look and scoffed, "It won't be a _match_; it'll be a _slaughter_. Marui-sempai's here for the prize, a year's worth supply of his favorite gum. He won't be holding anything back."

All of their eyes widened except for Ryoga's. They all knew that Bunta Marui was completely obsessed with any kind of dessert and gum, especially gum.

"WE'VE GOT TO WARN SAKUNO-CHAN!"

Before Eiji could run after Sakuno, Ryoga grabbed his arm.

"Let go! I've got to go and tell Sa—

Ryoga began laughing.

"Eh, Ochibi I think something's wrong with your Aniki," Eiji said while blinking in surprise.

"No, don't tell her. This'll be interesting. I want to see just how much she can do against one of Japan's best High School Volleyists."

They all looked at Ryoga like he was crazy. Sure Sakuno had gotten better but she couldn't be anywhere near Marui's level. That would be virtually impossible for someone to grow that much in two months. She'd get slaughtered out there if they allowed her to play.

"Oh look, the match is starting," Akaya commented, halting everyone's conversation.

"99.9% that Sakuno will lose this match," Inui mumbled out with a deep frown. He didn't like those statistics.

"Heh, I wouldn't count on it. That kid can be hella surprising," Ryoga chuckled out but no one really paid him any attention.

'_Now show them all the results of your hard work Sakuno-chan.'_

####

Sakuno calmly walked over to her side of the court and curiously watched the bubble-blowing red-head warm up. She had decided to keep her weights on for the first set. She wanted to see just what his strategy, if he had any, was against her. Marui wasn't someone who she could beat with just the basics but she wasn't going to use her illusion techniques until they were necessary but she had no doubts that they were going to be necessary.

"Hello, you're Sakuno Ryuzaki right?"

Sakuno jumped slightly when she heard a voice inches from her face. She hadn't even seen the red-head move. She must have zoned out again.

Turning towards her opponent she nodded shyly.

####

Bunta Marui was extremely excited about the final match of the tournament. He had only entered to win the year's supply worth of gum, but he had also found an interesting player.

It was a small, cute, high school girl. He didn't recognize her until he saw her kind eyes. They were the same as the girl with long braids who always cheered for Seigaku. Personally he thought that this new cut suited her more, but it wasn't her looks that had interested him. No, it was the fact that she could use his Temporal Difference Hell technique. That made her interesting and stand above all of the other players in the tournament.

"Hello, you're Sakuno Ryuzaki right?"

He felt slightly guilty when she jumped; he must have disturbed her thoughts. It took her a few moments before she nodded shyly.

"Hi, I'm Bunta Marui. Let's have a good match 'kay?"

She nodded and shook his hand. The two then separated and walked to their respective sides.

He hoped that she would give him a challenge; so far it had been pretty boring for him. If the prize had been something other than his precious gum then maybe he would have tested her first and dragged out the match. However that was not the case so he went ahead and prepared himself to completely dominate this game.

####

"Let the final match between Bunta Marui and Sakuno Ryuzaki begin. Marui to serve!" The umpire called out.

Bunta threw the ball up and served. It was a hard and fast serve that any average player would have trouble with, but Sakuno was able to return it. The two volleyed for a good minute before Bunta decided to end it.

"Here it comes, Marui-sempai's Tsunawatari!" Akaya yelled in excitement.

The Seigaku Regulars swallowed and looked at Marui with grimaces. Meanwhile Ryoga looked thoughtfully at Sakuno.

'_What will you do now Saku-chan?'_

####

Sakuno dashed forward as soon as she saw the ball rolling neatly along the net. She had seen this move before during the match between Seigaku and Rikkaidai. She knew she could return it.

Time seemed to slow as she rushed towards the small ball. She extended her racquet just in time to gently volley the ball over, preforming an exact replica of the Tsunawatari.

Stunned silence followed as the ball gently dropped to the ground. No one other than Ryoga had expected Sakuno to copy Marui's move. It stunned them all into immobilization.

"Heh, that crazy kid," Ryoga mumbled with a wide grin.

"N-n-no way! Sakuno-chan shouldn't be able to do that! We've all seen the way she used to play; even with a couple of months' worth of training couldn't change her that much!" Momoshiro yelled out but his eyes never left the court.

"Aniki?!""

Ryoga turned his head towards his younger brother when he heard the urgency in his voice.

"You taught Ryuzaki the Muga no Kyochi!?"

All of the tennis players turned towards the pair when they heard this. The Muga no Kyochi was an unbelievably hard technique to master and for someone such as Sakuno to master it in a few months was unheard of. It could only be done by those who had an astronomical amount of innate talent and skill. If the girl did possess such qualities then she was an absolute monster.

"No, I didn't teach her it," they all breathed a sigh of both relief and disappointment, "That girl could already use the Muga no Kyochi when I first met her."

All the tennis players had equal expressions of horror and disbelief. How could their little clumsy wobbly-hips Sakuno have been able to use the Muga no Kyochi? Just how much of Sakuno's ability did they overlook?

"Well if that girl is a Muga user, then this'll be interesting. Bunta-kun has never played one so I suppose this will be a good experience. He's already starting to realize that he's going to have to up his skills for this match." Yukimura said nonchalantly, while his gaze locked firmly on the court.

The rest then turned back to the courts, shocked to see that the first two sets had already ended in favor of Marui.

####  
Sakuno frowned into her water bottle as she drank. The match was almost finished, with the score being 5-0 in favor of Marui. She would have to take off her weights and use her Illusion Tennis if she wanted to get anywhere in this match. Bunta had proved himself to be even better than the last time she had seen him play and with her weights she was just no match for the Rikkaidai tennis player.

'_It's time to get serious.'_

####

Marui sensed the change in his opponent as soon as she returned to the court. He had watched her take off what seemed like a dozen weights that made an extremely loud clatter when they fell to the ground. As soon as they were off, the girl seemed to almost float on the ground. Her steps were almost silent to his ears and so graceful that it seemed as if she were dancing.

'_This'll be interesting.'_

####

Sakuno gripped the tennis ball gently, almost caressing the small ball in her palm. It held her attention entirely. Nothing could break her trance.

Slowly she through the ball into the air and—

"Pok!"

"f-fifteen love!"

####

"S-so fast…"

When the match had reached 5 games to 0 in Marui's favor, all the Regulars had believed that Sakuno's bag of tricks had finally run out. Therefore, it came as an extreme surprise when her next serve was practically invisible. They had seen when she threw the ball up and raised her racquet, but after that it was almost as if her swing was invisible.

"So she's finally decided to get serious."

Everyone spun towards Ryoga, with equally shocked and interested expressions.

"How?" None other than the steely vice-captain of Rikkaidai voiced the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Sakuno's a very determined girl when she wants something. She puts her all into doing something and this is just the results of two months of her labor." Ryoga smirked. Sakuno would have been so happy to see just how surprised everyone was over her progress.

"Aniki, what was that technique she just used?"

Ryoga rolled his eyes, trust his brother to be more concerned with the newly revealed tennis move than Sakuno, "There really isn't anything special about it. It's just a high-speed flat serve. Sakuno calls it her Invisible Serve. She also has a return that's similar to it called the Invisible Swing only that's a ground-stroke."

Ryoma gripped the fence tightly in excitement at the prospect of facing such a serve. He had to get Ryuuzaki to use it against him after this.

"5 games All, Marui to serve!"

The group all whirled back around to watch the match so fast that they completely missed Ryoga's frown.

Sure, that move was extremely useful, but Sakuno had yet to reach the level of stamina necessary to use that technique consecutively.

'_Sakuno, just how long can you keep this up?'_

####

Back on the court, Sakuno panted from exhaustion. She had reached the limit of her stamina, but her opponent was just as, if not more, exhausted from trying to keep up with her serves and returns. She had to win another 2 games to end the match, she had to push her limits.

Sakuno quickly set herself in the court as Marui served. When the ball reached her, she quickly hit the ball with the frame of her racket, which caused the ball to vibrate with such force that when it reached Marui's side of the court, it looked like there were multiple balls.

Her 'Illusion' was a trick she developed to beat Ryoga. Even after two months, Ryoga still had trouble with that move.

"6 games to 5, Ryuzaki to serve!"

####

"Nyah! Sakuno might just win this!" Eiji shouted as he jumped up and down in excitement.

"No, this is it for that girl. She put up a good fight, but Bunta-kun has figured out her trick," Yukimura said, his eyes glued to the match in front of him.

"WHAT! No way, he's still losing! Sakuno can still win this!" Momoshiro yelled out before he was quieted by Fuji's words, "No Momo, he's right. Marui has figured out the counter to Sakuno's technique."

"What do you mean Fujiko?"

Kirihara snorted in disgust as he said, "The ball only has one shadow baka. If Bunta-sempai follows that then he can return it easily."

'_What will you do now Sakuno?' _

####

"45-15!"

"Pok!"

"45-30!"

"Pok!"

"45- All!"

Sakuno grit her teeth in frustration. She only needed to win this last game and she' d win the tournament. She knew that Marui had figured out a counter to her Illusion but that move had been her ace. It was the last of her perfected moves.

'_I guess I'm going to have to use __**that**__ even though it isn't perfected yet.'_

####

"7 games to 5! Game Set and Match. Ryuzaki Sakuno is the winner of the annual Kanigawa Tennis Tournament."

"W-what was that? Bunta-Sempai figured out the counter for that last one, but what kind of technique was that?" Kirihara stuttered in disbelief.

They all shared equal expressions of shock, and all jumped when the piercing sound of Ryoga's laughter cut through their shocked haze.

"That girl actually did it. She finally completed it."

"…completed what?"

Ryoga gave his brother a feral grin as he spoke, "She completed the Entaku Shot. It's a sidespin smash that she hits with the frame of her racket that causes the ball to fly in a circular ring formation until it hits the court."

"She's only been practicing with you for 2 months! How can she do all of these things?" Momoshiro yelled out in disbelief.

Ryoga gave them a feral grin as he turned towards where Sakuno would be exiting from the court.

"That girl's ability is prodigal, borderline monstrous when it comes to tennis. This is only the beginning; she hasn't reached her peak yet."

Ryoma frowned at his brother as he asked, "How did you of all people find out about Ryuzaki's talent? You didn't even know her until two months ago."

Ryoga paused, grin slowly disappearing as he answered, "I just gave her the one thing you all never gave her…confidence in her ability and guidance. Sakuno has a bit of an inferiority complex and with you only pointing out her mistakes made it worse. It stunted her innate tennis abilities. If I had not shown up when I did then she probably would have quit tennis."

The group all remained silent after that answer. How could they have overlooked the potential and problems Sakuno had?

"Saku-chan congratulations!"

Ryoga's yell knocked them from their thoughts. They all turned to see both Marui and Sakuno walking towards them, trophy in hand.

"Nyah Sakuno, you were great!"

"You were really amazing Sakuno-chan!"

"You gave me interesting data Sakuno-san."

"Good work Sakuno."

"Saa, that was impressive Sakuno-chan."

"Hn. Mada mada dane."

Sakuno blushed but smiled happily at the praise the Seigaku team gave her, "Thank you, but I couldn't have done it without Ryoga."

"Let's go celebrate then! How about we get some sushi at Kawamura's?"

After a chorus of agreements they began walking towards the restaurant.

Ryoma's fist clenched at that. His brother, his aniki, had been the one to help the girl he likes, not him. If he had not disliked Ryoga at first, then he sure disliked him now. A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts.

"A-arigato Ryoma-kun. What you did this morning really helped and I don't think I could have done it without it."

He blushed slightly as he took his cap and placed it back on his head.

"Hn, you would have been fine without it. You have talent Sakuno, but you're still mada mada dane."

Sakuno gave an almost angelic smile at his praise and sped up to walk with Ryoga.

####

Ryoga had a pinched look on his face as he watched the small interaction between his brother and Sakuno; a look did not escape the ever-vigilant eyes of the Seigaku head coach.

"You like her then? Is that where your dedication to her comes from?"

Ryoga's surprised expression said it all for her though.

She barked out a laugh at the irony of his affections. It seemed that the Echizen men were cursed to give their affections to the Ryuzaki women. Her daughter and Nanjiroh had been a couple long ago before he decided to leave for America to chase his tennis dreams. Now it seemed as if it was the same.

"…Just make sure you don't hurt her."

Ryoga looked appalled, "No, I'd never!"

Sumire laughed again and shook her head, "Relax Ryoga, I know you won't. Your expression was all the answer I needed."

Sumire then walked faster, leaving Ryoga behind.

"Hey Ryo-kun, what did Oba-chan want?"

Ryoga slowly turned his head to Sakuno and shook it, "Nothing Saku-chan."

Gently, Ryoga reached out and held her hand, "You did amazing out there Sakuno. I'm so proud of you."

Sakuno blushed at the handholding and grew redder at Ryoga's use of her first name and his praise. Her heart sped up as he entwined his fingers with hers. It was different from the feeling she had when Ryoma praised her. It was just as strong, if not stronger than what she had felt with the young prince.

"A-arigato R-R-Ryoga, but I couldn't have done it without your help," She said while she shyly curled her fingers around his.

Ryoga gave her a small smile, one that she had never seen before, and leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"You're an amazing girl Sakuno. You could have done this without me easily. Unfortunately, I have to go now. Tomorrow we can celebrate just the two of us alright?"

Sakuno could do nothing more than nod as she was still surprised from the kiss on her cheek.

Ryoga smiled cheekily as he whispered into her ear, "Then it's a date."

**####A Prodigy Is Revealed End####**

**Well, that's it for this chapter. I'm sorry for the late update but hey, better late than never. **

**I would like to thank all of you who stuck with this story and reviewed. I love hearing from you so please let me know what you think.**

**-SJB **


End file.
